3/9/23 Thursday 6:45 am
Models have really ramped up in the last 24 hours as the moisture begins to reach California. This event will bring 7-11 inches of liquid to the Sierra. However, (only) 1 to 3+ inches of liquid will be possible in SW Colorado this weekend. Our higher elevations areas will see widespread snow totals of 20-40 inches. Expect major travel disruptions over the passes this weekend!
Early Winter Storm Warnings have already been issued, but they need a lot of cleaning up as currently worded. Another 24 hours of model runs may help those refinements as well.
The models have been consistently showing snow levels ranging between 8,000-8,800 for this storm. They will start lower than this on Friday morning but will increase throughout the day as the warm pacific air arrives.
Here are the latest model runs, as I said, they have really increased since my last post.
This is for total liquid through Sunday. This is all going to end up in our snowpack and it is going to be pretty incredible.
European–given the data from the other models and this model’s poor performance in the higher elevations this season these amounts may be too low.
GFS
German
Canadian–Some of those bullseyes just south of Wolf Creek and Lizard Head Passes are in the 5-7 inch category. That would translate to 4 to 6 feet of snow. That is likely too high.
For those of you traveling, I do not expect the weather at DRO to be a problem this weekend. For those of you driving somewhere this weekend, the lower elevations will not be affected. If you are planning to drive over the passes expect significant delays and closures, especially Friday night through Sunday morning!
My next update will be out this afternoon. Thanks for following and supporting the site!